Watercraft

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a watercraft comprising an at least partly elastic and preferably inflatable casing (1), in particular a casing which surrounds an inner region. The watercraft has a base (2), an energy storage device (6), and a drive device which is secured to the base and comprises a drive unit (4) that is located in the water during operation, the flow of water produced by the drive unit during operation being controllable by means of a controller. The drive device is releasably secured to the base as a module comprising the energy storage device (6), which is designed as part of the module, such that the module can be removed as a structural unit.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application claims priority to PCT Application No. PCT/EP2021/075346, filed Sep. 15, 2021, which itself claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2020 124 029.5, filed Sep. 15, 2020, the entireties of both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a watercraft comprising an at least partly elastic, preferably inflatable float with a casing, in particular a casing which surrounds an inner region, wherein the watercraft has a base, an energy storage device, and a drive device which is secured to the base and comprises a drive unit that is located in the water during operation, the flow of water produced by the drive unit during operation being controllable by means of a controller.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Subject matter of the type in question is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,873. For removal of the drive device, for example for maintenance purposes, said drive device has to be separated from the battery and the motor mount. If, for example because of a collision with an underwater obstacle, for example in the vicinity of the shore, the force transmitted in this case to the motor shaft should no longer be absorbed by damping arranged between deck and motor mount, both the drive unit and the motor mount may be damaged. The motor mount can be exchanged only with an increased outlay.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, provision is made to releasably secure the drive device to the base as a module comprising the energy storage device, which is designed as part of the module, such that the module can be removed as a structural unit.

If, during operation in particular of a plurality of watercraft according to the invention, for example in the manner of a bumper car, the drive device or other parts of the module should be damaged, it or they can be exchanged comparatively rapidly such that further operation with a replacement module is immediately possible.

It is obvious that the module as a structural unit can be removed as a whole to the extent that the essential parts thereof can be removed together, with possible securing means, for example screws, clamping means or the like, being releasable or removable optionally in advance. In particular, it involves parts of the module that are connected directly or indirectly to a frame. According to the invention, the drive device comprises in particular drive unit and optionally at least parts of the control device, for example units for generating control signals for the drive unit.

The base of the device according to the invention delimits an inner region and is arranged on the casing or on the casing body, which is formed by the casing, or is formed integrally with said casing or casing body. The base and casing or casing body preferably together form the float, i.e. the part of same that is required for the buoyancy of the watercraft. In particular, the watercraft is formed by an elastic and inflated or inflatable casing body. Alternatively or additionally, the float can also be at least partly formed from a floatable foam.

For simple fixing to the base, the module is preferably provided with an upper base profile body configured for this purpose. In particular, the latter has at least one contact surface for the base. The base profile body is formed in particular integrally and can be integrally formed with further parts of the module. Specifically in a variant in which the base is inflatable, such a base profile body leads to good transmission of the accelerations generated by the drive device to the rest of the watercraft. The base profile body has in particular surfaces which can be supported on an—as viewed in top view—edge of the recess of the base, i.e. the surface normals thereof have at least components in the propulsion direction and consequently parallel to the water surface during operation. Furthermore, possible parts of the structural unit or of the module can be fixed directly or indirectly to one another by means of the base profile body and/or by means of a frame fastened to the latter.

In order to supply the drive unit with driving energy and/or control signals and/or in order to transmit a steering force, the base profile body preferably has at least one recess through which possible control means, energy supply means and/or force transmission means can be guided.

The module is preferably secured, and in particular clamped, to the base by means of two base profile bodies. In particular, an upper base profile body is at least partially arranged here on the upper side of the base, with respect to a customary arrangement of the watercraft on an underlying surface or the water, and the further base profile body is at least partially arranged on the lower side of the base. By the respective base profile bodies partially engaging over or engaging under the base, said base profile bodies can be, for example, screwed to each other and thereby secured clamping the base between them. At the same time, the region located above the base is thereby sealed better.

For the purposes of the invention, an upper base profile body is an object fitting onto and/or partly for guiding parts of the drive train into a recess of the base and which can be arranged or is arranged in said recess and with the aid of which the module can be fixed as a whole to the base. In particular, the at least one or the preferably two base profile bodies are held in a clamping manner on the base.

The base which is arranged in particular on the inside of the casing (in a top view) is preferably inflatable and is provided in particular with inner connecting elements which, spaced apart from the edge of the base, connect the top side and base inner side of the base to each other. The connecting elements, for example in the form of connecting fibers, make the inflated base particularly dimensionally stable, and therefore the entire weight of the module can be readily supported thereon. The edge of the base is understood as meaning the outer contour of the base in a top view. The connecting elements are now found between the edge regions of the base in the top view.

In particular, the base and/or the casing body is or are formed from a multi-layered wall material, for example in the form of PVC layers, with the innermost layers of the upper side and lower side of the base each being connected to the connecting elements. The high degree of rigidity of the base means that forces introduced therein are readily distributed as far as the casing body.

In particular, the base is arranged at the lower end of the casing body, wherein a lower side of the base at a height and/or below a lower edge of the casing body can lie in the water during operation.

To reduce the depth, in a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, the watercraft can be provided with a recess, which is at least partially filled with water during operation, in the base, into which recess the drive unit can be introduced. For this purpose, parts of the module or of the drive unit or the drive device are movable (height-adjustable) relative to the rest of the module. Depending on the size of the recess in the base or retraction state of the drive unit, the latter can nevertheless still be used for propulsion in the water, for example in the vicinity of the shore or beach, without the drive unit being damaged.

Alternatively or additionally, protrusions or webs that protect the drive unit can be provided on the lower side of the base and/or the casing body.

The drive unit is preferably movable by means of a holding device. The latter serves for transmitting possible control forces to the drive unit and is part of the drive device and therefore also part of the module. In a simple case, it can be formed by a rod which is guided through the base and on which a drive unit is arranged and which is mounted in the module. In order to supply a drive unit, which has a motor, with energy, such a rod or shaft can be hollow and can contain corresponding cables. An advantage of a drive unit which is located in the water and has an integrated motor is that it can be directly cooled in the water.

As an alternative to an in particular manually actuable rod, the holding device can have a joint unit which is movable by one or more electronically controllable actuators and by means of which the drive unit can be aligned below the base in the water.

In particular in a design of a holding device with a handlebar, equally also by means of a part of the holding device that is preferably in the form of a rod or shaft, according to a development according to the invention the drive unit is arranged height-adjustably in a guide of the module. Such a guide can be realized by a frame which is fixed on the base profile body of the module and at the upper end of which the holding device is connected to a control means in the form of a steering wheel. To fix the holding device at different heights, said holding device, which is preferably in the form of a shaft, can be provided with projections or recesses which correspond to a possible securing element, for example a locking lever.

The energy storage device is formed in particular by means of a receptacle as an exchangeable part of the module. Such a receptacle can be realized, for example, by means of a push frame or folding frame which receives the energy storage device. Alternatively or additionally, the energy storage device, for example a battery, can be clamped to the frame.

The energy storage device is formed with its longest longitudinal extent in particular parallel to a longitudinal center axis of the module, and therefore the module takes up as little area as possible in the interior.

For the design of the watercraft for a type of bumper car on the water, it is provided with a completely encompassing and elastic impact zone which is formed in particular by the elastic casing of the watercraft.

In order for all of the people in the watercraft—preferably up to 6 adults each weighing 75 kg can sit on the casing body of the watercraft and position their legs in the interior, to be able to have access to a controller, the drive unit, and in particular also the drive device, is arranged centrally, specifically in the center of the watercraft, in a top view. It is furthermore advantageous if the casing has an at least substantially, in particular completely polygonal or round outer contour. It goes without saying that here in turn the outer contour is meant in a top view or bottom view. “At least substantially” means that the basic contour of the casing body is polygonal or round in top view, with possible loops, grab handles, valves, cables or the like not being taken into consideration.

According to a further advantageous refinement of the invention, the control device has at least one sensor unit, which is designed for receiving an input signal for controlling the drive unit. Furthermore, the control device has a control unit for generating a control signal to the drive unit. Said control unit can also already be arranged in the drive unit and processes the control signal, which is generated by the sensor unit, for the purpose of transmission to the (optionally further) drive unit. In a simple case, said sensor unit can be a potentiometer, with which a pushing speed status of an adjustment device is received by an operator. The adjustment device can be designed, for example, similarly to a motorcycle handgrip with a throttle cable. In more complex variants, the sensor unit can have, for example, a gyroscope and/or a wireless or wired controller which generates input signals leading to the thrust power and alignment of the drive unit or of the flow of water produced by the latter. For example, in a variant of the watercraft designed to be used together in groups, a series of people in the watercraft can each obtain their own hand controller for generating control signals. Said control signals are then formed in the control unit into an overall control signal which controls the drive unit.

The drive device is preferably provided with a joint unit designed for manual actuation. In particular, the steering unit is arranged on the holding device, for example in the form of a steering wheel or handlebar, and therefore the drive unit and the steering unit are mechanically coupled.

According to an advantageous development of the invention, the drive device can have a dead man's switch, and therefore, in the event that an operator falls overboard, the watercraft does not unintentionally travel further, but rather the drive unit obtains a stop signal and in particular the supply of power between battery unit and drive unit is interrupted.

For safe and interference-free operation, the drive unit is preferably provided with an impeller which is arranged in a flow duct and is driven in particular by an internal rotor motor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings, which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and wherein similar reference char-acters indicate the same parts throughout the views.

FIG. 1 shows an object according to the invention in a perspective illustration,

FIG. 2 shows the object according to FIG. 1 in a further perspective illustration.

FIG. 3 shows the object according to FIG. 1 in a rear view.

FIG. 4 shows the object according to FIG. 3 along the section A-A.

FIG. 5 shows the object according to FIG. 1 in a top view.

FIG. 6 shows the object according to FIG. 1 in a view from below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Individual technical features of the exemplary embodiments described below can also be combined with previously described exemplary embodiments and with the features of the independent claim and any other claims to form subject matter according to the invention. If expedient, functionally identically acting elements are provided with identical reference numbers.

A watercraft according to the invention is provided with an inflatable casing 1 which has a polygonal outer contour in the top view according to FIG. 5 . A base 2 downwardly delimits an inner region likewise surrounded by the casing. A drive device comprises a drive unit 4 which is located in the water during operation and the energy of which originates from an energy storage device 6 (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2 ).

The drive unit is designed as a jet drive with an impeller 10 located in a flow duct (FIG. 4 ). A control device has a steering unit which is designed for manual actuation and is in the form of a steering wheel 12 which is connected to a holding device in the form of a shaft 14. Said shaft 14, on the one hand, constitutes a handlebar on which the drive unit 4 is arranged and, on the other hand, after release of a locking lever 15, only partially illustrated, the shaft can be moved in the directions indicated by the double arrow 16 in FIG. 4 . In a variant in which there is no filter basket 16, the drive unit can then be at least partly introduced into the recess 18 of the base 2 in order to reduce the depth of the watercraft.

After release of a lower base profile body 20, the drive device together with the drive unit 4 and the control device can be pulled upward out of the base 2 in the form of a structural unit. Mile the upper base profile body the energy storage device 1 and the drive device with the drive unit and control means necessary for this purpose and the control device are arranged on an upper base profile body 22 formed upward in the manner of a plate. For this purpose, the module has a frame 24 to which the energy storage device 6 is releasably fixed. Said frame 24 at the same time forms a guide for the shaft 14 and is screwed here to the upper base profile body 22. A control unit 26 which regulates the flow of energy to the drive unit 4 is likewise fixed to the upper base profile body 22.

The two base profile bodies 20 and 22 have profiles 28 which are adapted to a curvature of the edge of the base 2 such that, when the two base profile bodies 20 and 22 are clamped in relation to each other, a tight fit of the two base profile bodies 20 and 22 and an enlarged contact surface on the base are realized. By this means, the forces which arise transversely with respect to the double arrow 16 and act on the shaft 14 by means of the drive are transmitted better into the base.

The shaft 14 as part of the holding device can likewise be considered to be part of the control device.

The energy storage device 6 is aligned with its longitudinal axis parallel to the shaft and arranged upright on the frame 24 such that little area of the base or of the interior is required for the module. The space available to operators is thus increased.

Instead of the illustrated arrangement eccentrically, the drive unit can also be arranged centrally—indicated by the dashed line 30 illustrated in FIG. 5 . The base 2 and casing 1 can be securely closed by means of valves 32 after they have been inflated. Optionally, a drain valve 34 can ensure that water which has accumulated in the interior after operation can be drained. 

1. A watercraft comprising: an at least partly elastic casing; a base; an energy storage device; and a drive device which is secured to the base and comprises a drive unit that is located in water during operation, the flow of water produced by the drive unit during operation being controllable by means of a controller, wherein the drive device is releasably secured to the base as a module comprising the energy storage device, which is designed as part of the module, such that the module can be removed as a structural unit.
 2. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the module has at least one upper base profile body designed for fixing to the base.
 3. The watercraft as claimed in claim 2, wherein the module is secured to the base by at least two base profile bodies.
 4. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base is inflatable.
 5. The watercraft as claimed claim 1, further including a recess which is at least partially filled with water during operation, in the base, into which recess the drive unit can be introduced in order to reduce the depth of the watercraft.
 6. The watercraft as claimed claim 1, further including a holding device, via which the drive unit is movable.
 7. The watercraft as claimed in claim 6, wherein the holding device of the drive unit is arranged height-adjustably in a guide of the module.
 8. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the energy storage device is formed by a receptacle as an exchangeable part of the module.
 9. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casing of the watercraft completely comprises an elastic impact zone.
 10. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive unit is arranged centrally.
 11. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casing has an at least substantially polygonal or round outer contour.
 12. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device has at least one sensor unit, which receives an input signal for controlling the drive unit, and a control unit for generating a control signal to the drive unit.
 13. The watercraft as claimed in claim 12, wherein the sensor unit comprises a gyroscope and/or a wireless or wired hand controller.
 14. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device has a steering unit designed for manual actuation.
 15. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive device has a dead man's switch.
 16. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive unit comprises an impeller arranged in a flow duct.
 17. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least partly elastic casing is inflatable.
 18. The watercraft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least partly elastic casing surrounds an inner region.
 19. The watercraft as claimed in claim 4, wherein the base is arranged on the inside of the casing and is provided with inner connecting elements which, spaced apart from the edge of the base, connect the top side and base inner side of the base to each other. 